On 5/16, the Senate passed S.J. Res 52, the resolution to overturn the FCC net neutrality rollback. Republican Senators Collins (ME), Kennedy (LA), and Murkowski (AK) joined all 49 Senators in the Democratic Caucus in voting “Yes”. The resolution then moved to the House, where, two days later, Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) has filed a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on the Senate-passed resolution. A simple majority of House members must sign the petition.

Check out where your legislator stands here and send them a “thank-you” or a “WTH?” tweet with the attached links. (The list alphabetizes by first name or by state.) Then find the links to all your out-of-state relatives and friends and ask them to do the same thing. Be Indivisible all over the country. For more impact, call everyone who is a “U” (undecided, my foot) or a “N“.

Minimal Script for “U” and “N” Reps: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to show support for the Senate-passed S.J. Res 52 by signing the discharge petition introduced by Rep. Mike Doyle. I will remember how you vote on this at the next election.

Minimal Script for “Y” Reps: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep. [___] for signing the discharge petition to preserve net neutrality introduced by Rep. Mike Doyle. (Brownley and Carbajal are here.)

July 12th is the deadline for comment to the FCC on the Sinclair-Tribune merger!

These are both amazingly informative videos. Please share them widely.

“Sinclair is already the country’s largest broadcast company, and even with adjustments to its original Tribune buyout plan, it would still own more than 200 stations—far above the legal limit.” Without Ajit Pai’s intervention, it is not clear this merger would even be under consideration. And look here for more Trump administration interference.

Example Comments:More here. Find something close and make it sound like you. Make this a daily habit. Having Trump-TV take over our biggest markets is a “clear and present” danger.

Comment: We are in opposition to the merger of Sinclair and Tribune broadcasting companies. This merger will give unfair advantage to biased political views to a larger audience. STOP THIS MERGER!

Comment: To the FCC: We are vehemently opposed to the Tribune-Sinclair merger. Sinclair is already the largest broadcast company in the US, and under this plan would own more than two HUNDRED stations—far above the legal limit. Further, Sinclair has a lengthy history of forcing local news programs to run conservative propaganda. And Sinclair just hired a former Trump White House staffer to run their political coverage. Even worse, Mr. Pai, is that you are under investigation by your own agency for improperly allowing this merger to move forward. Why is it even being considered? Part of being an American is being exposed to a free press, one with widely differing opinions. What kind of “free press” will be on offer, with Sinclair’s prepackaged conservative propaganda running local stations that will be seen by over 70% of American households?

Comment:I again wish to express my strong opposition to the Sinclair takeover of the public news media. Since my first comment in October, we have seen further proof that Sinclair forces scripted opinions to masquerade as news, while stifling true news reporting and facts. The Tribune group has for decades been a trustworthy source of news at both a local and national level. This will cease to be the case if Sinclair gets their hands on it.

Comment:I am opposed to the Sinclair – Tribune merger. Now more than ever America needs objectivity and balance in their news reporting. This merger will provide roadblocks to achieving balanced objective news reporting. Sadly, print Journalism is in decline and fewer people are opting to read quality well vetted newspapers. People are using TV as their main source for news. Not good.

Comment:This merger should not be allowed. A diversity of opinion is necessary for the functioning of a democracy, and concentrating a large majority of broadcast outlets under one director does not foster diversity of opinion. Sinclair is already the country’s largest broadcast company, and even with adjustments to its original Tribune buyout plan, it would still own more than 200 stations—far above the legal limit. It is unlikely this merger would even be under consideration without the intervention of Ajit Pai.

Comment:I am completely against the Sinclair Broadcasting Co. being given approval of purchasing Tribune Broadcasting Co. due to the facts that have appeared in print and on televised media about the type of “news” they publicize and because of the fact that their employees are told what to say by Sinclair. If there wasn’t a strong Republican at the head of the FCC, this buyout wouldn’t even have been considered. I am afraid our democracy is being lost because of the various current leaderships, in the government, running our country.

Comment:This merger greatly exceeds what any one network or station should have, regardless of political leaning. The American public deserves the right to a diverse array of programming choices. Sinclair already has a large share of the market; it should not be allowed to become larger.

Comment:The Sinclair-Tribune merger is a disgrace! This merger will stifle competition and will more easily allow to be spread what I for one, consider to be false propaganda. Conservative viewpoint news like Fox News already does this all to well. ALL viewpoints should have ‘equal’ ability to be spoken and heard over the air waves, about what is happening as the broadcasters understand it and have researched. We should not just let Trump have his say in supporting and helping only *conservative* media and their mergers. All news should be able to be expressed *equally and fairly* whatever the slant. Freedom of the press/speech is in danger more and more because of FCC decisions. I think that is the FCC’s main goal, with Trump’s approval. It is outrageous that Fox News’ Sean Hannity has an office in the white house to be closer to Trump, who only deals with ‘that’ channel and its’ news! Trump is trying to spread ‘his’ version of the news to control the media. This merger will make it harder, eventually, for ‘other’ non-conservative channels’ views to be heard. CNN has been the main news source as far back as I can remember. Now, Trump is trying to make CNN and it’s views, EVENTUALLY, be harder to be broadcast. This merger and the FCC should not be enabled by our president. He should not be able to affect a merger just because it is what ‘he’ wants to force the average American to see. It is a corrupt decision to allow the merger. The result will be too powerful an entity. The FCC is one of Trump’s enablers just like most of the other agencies now are. Communication decisions should not be basically controlled by the FCC through the president. Listen to what the majority of your comments say. Just like net neutrality repeal, the FCC is deliberately messing with the unimpeded flow of ‘any and all’ information that shows a viewpoint other than a conservative one. My country as I ‘knew’ it is slowly going away.